The Shadow

She kicked a stone in her path. Her head was faced down, and all her eyes could see was the dusty, dirty ground. It was always like that. Carla couldn't remember a time that it wasn't.

She first noticed that she had gone too far when she saw the long shadows which were cast upon the already dark ground. She looked up and to her amazement saw a huge building with pointed spires the protruded the dark sky. The whole building was tall. Tall and very black. I'm sure it's nothing. Just a place I've never been to before, Carla thought. It was definately a place she had never been to before, which was strange because she often went on evening walks and she usually went quite a bit farther than she did tonight.

Carla wasn't the kind of girl who was afraid of something new. She had a natural curiosity for the unknown. Instead of running back she continued walking forward. Every step brought new and oddly shaped buildings with complicated and intricate designs.

A figure emerged from the misty darkness. "Where do you come from child?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why have you come here?" He was tall and thin. He had no face. He was simply a shadow that stood and talked. His voice was deep and mellow.

"I-I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You did nothing of the sort. Come." Carla did have her suspicions. Warnings from her mother played like a record in her head. "Never talk to strangers." But she walked to him never the less. At first she thought that the shadows from the building had black-out his face, but she came closer she saw that it wasn't there. Now, she panicked. Now was too late.

"Who are you?" She asked desperately, obvious terror in her squeaking voice.

"I am...a friend."

"But I've never met you." She had seen these kinds of things in movies. But this was real life. Creepy people are never your friends, no matter what they say or how kind they falsely seem.

The creature of a man laughed. His voice rang out, low and eerie. Evil. "But who's to say I've never met you?"

"Please, I just want to leave." Her hands were up ready to defend herself. She backed away slowly, keeping her distance, as if she was in front of a dangerous animal. He didn't let her. He moved with her--connected by rope that was attached by his own will. He didn't need to move with her every step--every attempt to get away. But he did.

Carla screamed.

The man laughed again. "No one will find you. You're not on your world anymore. Your wasting your breath little girl."

"I'm not little, she wanted to say, I'm fourteen. But it didn't make a difference. She couldn't take it anymore. She slipped out of her flip-flops, then turned around and ran. He bare feet hit the hard floor. It was cold and smooth. Almost like fire. Her feet burned with the rigid feel of the bare ground. Those were her favorite shoes. She could come back later, all she had to do was run.

She ran.

The shadow followed.

She screamed.

No one answered.

The town seemed to stretch farther and farther. She couldn't get away from the tall monstrosities that haunted her. He chased her until she fell. Fell off the earth. Or it wasn't the earth. She fell of the world. The world of shadows.

And next to her she saw a note. It read, "Come in to my city again and you're dead. Next time look where you're going. Once I chased off millions of people, I wasn't expecting anyone else. I am the shadow." She shuttered. Had she taken a wrong turn and stepped somewhere that triggered transportation to this world? All she knew was that the shadow wanted to live by himself. He had been searching for a home and decided that this town was for him.

He was greedy.

He was evil.

But he had to be left alone. She didn't know how to make this happen. Carla didn't even know how she ended up there.

She knew one thing: she never wanted to see the shaddow again.

Twenty years later Carla came to the spot where she had landed after her fall from the shadow's world. She couldn't help smiling when she looked down.

That evening she walked into her house and called her own daughter who was only 7. "I have something for you."

The little girl jumped with excitement.

"These were mine when I was a kid. They might be a bit big for you, but they were my favorite to wear."

The seven year old, named Katherine, slipped on the flip-flops. Her mother's favorite flip-flops to be exact. She went outside to walk around in them. She only took two steps.

And then she saw him. A faceless man. The shadow.